SOURCE: "Critical Assessment of Verga's Milanese Tales," in Verga's Milanese Tales, S. F. Vanni, 1964, pp. 1-6.

In the following excerpt, Ragusa examines the critical dismissal of Verga 's Milanese tales, finding that the lasting reputation of these stories is based largely on the opinions of critic Luigi Russo.

The works of Verga that do not reflect the Sicilian peasant world have rarely been considered favorably by critics. The so-called mundane narratives that belong to his youthful production, stories peopled by idle aristocrats and budding young artists with their typical fin de siècle anxieties, have indeed received some measure of attention, if only because of their importance for the artist's formative years. But the Milanese tales, almost all written during Verga's maturity, have been completely overshadowed by the more numerous and more successful works set in Sicily. The impoverished working people, the low-class prostitutes, the starving music-hall entertainers...